I got off a flight from Baltimore last night in time to clear customs, check my bags thru to the next flight, clear security again, and then plunk my butt down in front of a TV at the airport in T.O. just in time to see the Habs second goal…
I yelled ” et la but ” and got looked at like I had 3 heads…..
Loved every second of it . . . . .
Certainly did not expect the shutout but makes it even sweeter.
I think you can expect Boston to goon it up a few notches next game.
That’s OK because the Habs will go 3 for 5 on the powerplay:)

I listened to a Bruins radio broadcast this afternoon. The commentator was giving Julien loads of sh_t for not playing the top two centers. They are freaking out down there. I loved listening to the rant and desperation in their logic.
Reminded me of most of our posts this past month…
Cheers

Boston never won in Montreal this year so winning tomorrow’s game will be huge. If Carey is able to play as brilliantly as he did last night I don’t think it will be too hard. Although it is good that Price was able to bail us out last night I hope the team is able to find some more offense. As good as it was to get the win I didn’t enjoy watching the team hemmed in their own end for the vast majority of the game. I don’t know why I feel so negative today. I’m starting to catch a cold so maybe being stuffed up has something to do with it. Nothing another Habs victory can’t solve. Just a nice little stat I pulled from the preview for tomorrow’s game. The Habs have only lost 9 of the 66 series in which they got first blood

I wouldn’t say that Price was the only reason for that win last night – it’s not fair to the rest of the team. Plekanec, Gionta, and Gomez had great nights. White showed physical presence, and the likes of Sopel and Gill were masterful with blocking shots.

The PK was strong too, as was PK the man!

Let’s hope they come out and play the system again (and they will), and Price will assist in keeping the door closed.

If the Bruins want to get more traffic in front of Price, that’s probably a good strategy on their part. However. The trade off will be less Canadiens’-zone offence for them.

Last night they consistently had five guys in the o-zone chasing the puck, and to give credit, they won most of those battles. They were spread out and made good passes too. If one of them plants himself in front of the net, it’ll weaken their puck-pursuit.

Basically it means fewer chances for them, albeit probably more dangerous chances. We’ll see how it goes. Expect to see Price getting roughed up though …

* Congratulations to a Habs team that battled back after a hugely challengin’ second-period drive by the Broonz and Price, in particular, for continuin’ to demonstrate he is the real deal.

Now for a little dose of schadenbroonze to clear my palette:

* Zdeno commentin’ after last night’s game, “It was unfortunate that my unfortunately unfortunate attempt to unfortunately elbow [Plekanec] in his unfortunate head unfortunately did not unfortunately connect. It was unfortunate. Unfortunately unfortunate.” Chara’s weakness remains his penchant for mindless rage when things aren’t goin’ his way; somethin’ Max knows all too well. It is, however, somethin’ the Habs will need to exploit as the series progresses, buildin’ on the base that was established with Tomas Jagr last night. Get inside the reckless, erstwhile captain’s head and stay there.

* Same goes for Tommy. The whiskers on that porn star ‘stache of his got just a little bit tighter after that 2nd goal.

* Best performance of the night was, however, Claude’s TortsOutburst™ durin’ the post-game press conference, destined to become a classic soundbite for years to come, you know, after his goon squad is soundly dispatched at the hands of the mighty Habs. I suspect he was havin’ flashbacks to that scene in Beverly Hills Cop where Det. Axel Foley is launched through the plate-glass window and onto the sidewalk.

Besides the obvious stars of last night’s game, Price, Gionta and Gomez, one other Hab continues to change my opinion of him every year around this time. His name is Hal Gill.
Gill blocked a few huge shots, ran a couple Bruins out of real estate and played another solid playoff game. I think the Habs have to sign him to a one-year-deal for sure next year.
Our offense was non-existent for very long stretches of time and I think we have to generate a few more scoring chances than we did last night. But that was one hell of a first game.
Lucic and Horton looked horrible and even Chara was knocked off his feet a few times!

reposting this from about last night because I haven’t seen anyone mention it but did anyone catch Chara bailing on Andrei?

The highlight off the night without a doubt was Gomez stealing the puck from Lucic on the insurance goal….not because it was Lucy (btut hat helps), not because we scored (that helps), not because it put the game at ease (that helps)…BUT…because Gomez who for most of the season has played soft went directly into the path of Lucic who was gathering speed…he didn’t swipe at the puck…he met him head on and I think it caught Lucic off guard. He is used to smaller guys just getting out of the way in those situations …especially a guy like Gomez. Gomez having the balls to do that was bigger than the result to me….a huuuuge positive for Gomez to build on.

My second favourite play of the night was one that probably went unnoticed by most…because it never really happened…but that was the beauty of it. Andrei Kostitsyn had been banging bodies since he returned. He is easily our strongest hitter in my opinion and maybe the only Hab capable of hitting Chara clean and inflicting some damage..even then the circumstances would have to be ideal…well last night they were. Chara was carrying the puck from the red line through to our blue line on the far side (on tv)….Andrei had a head of steam and was on a direct collision course…..Chara had nearly destroyed his ability to walk two periods earlier…and Andrei had him in his sights…Chara bailed….he actually bailed completely, dumped the puck and blatantly turned to avoid even the possibility of that collision…I have NEVER seen Chara do that in a situation where he could have taken the hit to make a better play….it made my night.

Count me in as one who thought Mara would get the nod…count em in as one who is glad Sopel was in there playing sacrificial pawn to king Carey.

I also liked what I saw out of the kids…Desharnais, Pouliot, White and Eller all palyed hard…they spent some serious time in our end but they did not run around lost and played with some poise given the circumstances.

PK and Wiz were both as expected wearing bullseyes but managed to evade danger with simplicity being their biggest ally. The Habs cautiously just dumped the puck whenever the slightest hint of danger arrived, it meant no mistakes but a serious ass whooping in puck possession….but the key to succeeding under the circumstances was to be perfect when defending attack after attack and we did that……

One more thing to add. I loved the way PK got position on Lucic while he was breaking for the net. Could of been a real good scoring opportunity if not for the perfect postion by Pk staying with that Big bitch. Guys were just reading the lanes well to just suffocating the bruins. I love it. They stuck to the system and played it well. Not alot of offense but do not need to do it once you have the lead. I love the fact that even though they were playing with the lead, I did not get the sense of other games. Everyone played as a unit supporting each other with good quick smart puck movements. Cannot wait until tomorrow

I definitely caught it, especially after he pasted Chara… I was totally pumped when I saw him finish that check (and it was a good one, I doubt many people hit Chara hard very often)… you know Chara now knows there’s a guy out there (actually 2 if you count White) who are not afraid to plaster him when they get the chance!

This is why Pleks is soooo valuable IMO, not necessarily because his speed pushes back the other teams’ D, or his offensive flair… but the fact that once playoffs come around, he will sacrifice everything just to shut down the other teams top center… a totally unselfish thing that makes everyone appreciate him, from the coaches down to the players.

I like Sopel. He’s not as aggressive as Mara, but I find he’s much more solid on the boards, and a great shot blocker.

We’ve got two flashy defencemen, Hammer and Spacek are solid and consistent, Gill and Sopel make the penalty kill better, and allow their partner to be a little more involved in the play because they play within their limits.

I would love to keep Sopes around next year. He played his way into top 4 minutes when the Hawks won the Cup last year, no reason to think he’s not gonna help this year.

I have to say I had my doubts about him, and wondered why Mara was not in his place, but last night he played well, and I saw his interview on cbc, and he really seems to be a great guy to have around in the locker room. Really unselfish play you get from him, and he says all the right thing.
I think our players and their experience will have alot of weight and factor in this serie!

Now all the critics know, as I have all along, why Gomez gets paid the big bucks, he is the key to J. Martin’s shut down puzzle style of coaching. Glad we have Gomez locked up for the next 3 years as a Hab.!

We will be going a very long way into this playoff year with Martin’s shut down style of defensive hockey. After all, we have been practicing it all season long, while other teams were running up their goals for, stats. But Martin knows that means nothing in the play offs, it is goals against, that is the most important to winning play off hockey.

The only problem with Martin’s style of game is that it leads to many injuries on the defensive side of the puck. If we do not run out of bodies, we will be very close to seeing Stanley again.

What fun to watch this team win by one goal every night, with this shut down style of play. We are sure going to need the liquor stores and the heart medicine for the next six weeks.!

IMPORTANT
PS—Price was fantastic,! but do not make the mistake of giving Price all the credit like people gave Halak last year.! It is Martin’s 6 men defending style of game that deserves all the credit, and all players executing the game plan on the ice as a team.

I agree 100% with what you said here, Ian. In both cases (Halak and Price), there is so much that goes on between shots on goal, and yet people seem to focus on the goaltender. Give credit to the entire bench, including the guys behind the bench.

Subbbbbang you stated: “you can think of 10-15 players off the top of your head that you would rather have”. Yes, so can everybody else on this site. But, how many of those 10-15 players want to play in Montreal? When Gomez was sent here, at that particular time players like Briere, et al were shunning our beautiful city. Gionta and Cammalerie are here because Gomez came here. Do I wish Gomez played better and scored more goals? ABSOLUTELY! But, he was picked up mostly for his play in the playoffs. Which he definitely takes it up a notch or two.

what makes you think gomez “wanted” to play in Montreal? he was traded here..he was not a free agent.
His no trade clause states that at the end of every year he can select 3 teams he will not go to….so we were not one of his 3 least desirable locations…that year anyway.

Gomez was great last night, and he showed us what he can bring to the team. But that is one game out of the 81 games he played this season.
He really needs to show some more consistency, and if not for his horrible season, we might have held the northeast division.
Still last night was very encouraging, and we need him to keep up his game, as I said before I’d much rather have a Gomez playing to the best of his abilty, than having him anywhere else. He is an Habs afterall.

As a side note, some people do dislike the JM system, and the style of play the team uses, but to me it is fascinating to see a team that the expert deemed underdogs come out and out strategize the other team, even with not having the last change JM managed a great feat of coaching and deserves praise as well. Actually the whole team should be praised for what was an excellent road game, and a great start to the 2011 playoffs!

I’ve been listening to the feedback on Montreal radio and I wonder if everyone watched the same game I saw last night. Everyone is talking about how the Bruins played our game and didn’t play their’s. What nonsense. Last night’s game was won in the corners, along the boards and in the dirty areas where the Bruins are supposed to own us “smaller” lads. This wasn’t an open ice game. In fact, the Habs were quite fortunate to be ahead after two periods, barely hanging on for long stretches in the second period.

“It’s a moo point. Like a cow’s opinion, it doesn’t matter. It’s moo.”

Wow what a win. Price was stellar, gomez shows up for big games, gio is a bruin killer in the playoffs, krejci had no room to move cause pleks was unreal. Ak46 what a guy, plays injured and knocking ppl around. What a good morning this is.
My fav part was that pice wink to sopel haha alittle roy-esque

Price is getting a lot of credit for the team’s win but it really was a good “team” road victory. Boston’s biggest offensive weapon was Chara’s shot from the point. They will surely keep that strategy but will put bodies in front of Price to make the count. Habs will need to limit those shots either by pressuring him and the unenvious job of blocking them. Pleks did a great job on Krechji (sp?) which effectively shutdown the unskilled duo of the Meatheat duo of Horton and Lucy. I was amazed that coach Julie with last change was not able to get away from that match up. I’m not sure who was against Bergeron but he too was a non-factor. I thought Bergeron was going to be the X-Factor and he still may be before this is done. If Habs can continue to play smarter hockey they have a decent chance to once again send the B’s back to the drawing board and teach their fans that meathead hockey is inferior to smart hockey. Biotches!

True enough. What Halak did last year was awesome and i thank him for that. But it’s Price’s time now so people really should stop with Halak comparison’s. Anyways, what a great day after an even better night of Habs hockey!

I wouldn’t go so far as to label Halak as “another Steve Penney”, just as I wouldn’t go so far as to label either Halak or Price as a Roy or Dryden. I know, you didn’t call either of them a Roy or Dryden. I know what you were saying. Truth is, both goalies have a long way to go in their respective careers before they can be compared to those Hall of Famers. I’m rooting for both of them.

The thing with Price, I always felt his struggles were the result of a goaltending coach trying to change his style. Price was a winner at every level of the game up to the time he came to Montreal. Why would a goalie coach try to convert a winner to another style? That’s what I thought Melanson was trying to do with Price, and that’s what I felt was messing the kid up. Gainey may have felt the same way. I certainly wouldn’t pretend to speak for him, but he did show Melanson the door, and coincindentally, Halak is dealt and Price is retained. Price could be the number one guy in Montreal for a long time. Provided the fans and writers just “chill out”.

I dont know too many NHL starting goalies who would look bad with this anal commitment to defense in front of them, just like you all say Niemi wasnt responsible for anything in Chicago last year. You dont know if Halak wouldnt have had a .923 sv percentage with the habs or that Price wouldve had better than .909 sv in St.Louis.

[Disclaimer]: I’m a hockey fan. I care about the habs, but probably not as much as you.